Texas law requiring voter photo identification struck down

On Thursday, a district court in Washington, D.C. ruled that a Texas law requiring voters to show government-issued photo identification such as a driver’s license or passport violates citizens’ civil rights. The three-judge panel unanimously ruled that such a restriction would be burdensome for the poor, and since a disproportionately high number of black and Hispanic Texans live in poverty, the law affects minorities more heavily.

Had this law been allowed to stand, the cost of getting a driver’s license, or lack of access to state motor vehicle offices could have prevented some underprivileged Texans from participating in elections.

"A law that forces poorer citizens to choose between their wages and their franchise unquestionably denies or abridges their right to vote," the court wrote.

This decision was the second setback in a week for the Republican party in Texas, which lost just a few days earlier in a case that found the state had redrawn its voting districts in a way that put minority voters at a disadvantage.